Strange people you've seen on public transit

[Dan]

One time, in the late 1980s, I was on the subway in Buffalo. At one stop, a group of ... uhh, very special people got on the train. The doors closed, and they all sat together. A few seconds after the train started to move, one of the very special boys cut one loose. The sound reverberated loudly off the hard plastic seat, and the group starred to laugh. Another special boy leaned to the side, grunted, and let one go. More laughing. A very special girl stood up, groaned loudly, and let out a very special toot. More laughing. This went on for about five minutes -- very special adolescents propelling naturally generated methane through a Metro Rail car -- until the very special, mentally handi-capable group reached their stop.

A few years ago, I was riding the Colfax Avenue bus in Denver. There was a black man sitting in the front, listing to a Walkman and bobbing his head. Every so often, he'd make a loud utterance. "YEAH, KILL ALL DA WHITE PEOPLE, KNOW WHA' SAYIN?" "HEHE ... KILL WHITEY, UH HUH!" "THAT RIGHT ... WHITE MAN THE DEVIL ... GOTTA' GET EM, UH HUH!" "GONNA' KILL ME A CRACKA, HEHEHE!"

Most of the bus riders were white. There was NOBODY else at the front of the bus but him and the driver.

 

[Zoning Goddess]

This is a little OT, but I was on a plane at the Miami airport once when a large group of Puerto Rican tourists got drunk and tried to storm the cockpit and drag the pilot out. The ringleader seemed perplexed when the cops showed up and dragged them all off the plane.

 

[H]

This is a little OT, but I was on a plane at the Miami airport once when a large group of Puerto Rican tourists got drunk and tried to storm the cockpit and drag the pilot out. The ringleader seemed perplexed when the cops showed up and dragged them all off the plane.

WHAT? can you give us year, this is insane!

 

[tsc]

St Patrick's Day Parade...NYC... a standing room only subway car full of cops from the burbs..in uniform..... The cops were asking if anyone had and beer to share.....the were a bit drunk and didn't want to lose their buzz....

 

[Zoning Goddess]

WHAT? can you give us year, this is insane!

I think it was summer of '73. One of the jet doors wouldn't close and we sat at the gate for several hours. The men in the group (heading for Disney World) got over-emotional about the delay. Their wives were actually egging them on. I remember that the few of us who were "mainland" Americans on the flight were hiding between rows of seats at the rear of the plane. Scary.

 

[H]

When / where I grew up in Atlanta the bus system (MARTA) went through our neighborhood only to drop off and pick up maids. It was called the maid service and neighborhood residents could not ride it. I was about 4 and I begged and begged my mom to let me ride the bus with our maid, who was nice enough to take me. One day we got on that bus and rode around all day. I had so much fun! I don’t have any pictures or anything, but remember the day vividly. I have always been drawn to public transportation.

But on topic, Dan, the strangest person I have ever seen on public transit is ‘me’

 

[Duke Of Dystopia]

But on topic, Dan, the strangest person I have ever seen on public transit is ‘me’

HEHEHEHEHEHEHE!

Bet I can beat you

Usually that description fits me. I have some spikey hats that I built with my own 3 hands When I ride the train in CHI(anywhere I wear it in public actually), I get 1 of 4 reactions:

A) That hat is awesome (33%)
B) I don't see you until I am past you and hurt my neck craning afterwords (33%)
C) You are beneath me so I will ignore you (29%)
D) Your horns are religiously objectionable and your evil (5%)


I like the reaction from kids the most. They just blurt it out or stare out of curiosity. They don't have the stupidity of attaching meaning to the silly things like adults do. They just are full of wonder and almost all of them love the hats

Too much fun sometimes

 

[Jeff]

I usually am the strange one on the el

Anyone ever see the movie Kids?

"I have no legs, I have no legs"

 

[Richmond Jake]

My strangest experience was on BART after the last Oakland Raiders game I attended. I can't begin to describe the lunatics on that train--it seemed like everyone was intoxicated, dressed in their Darth Vader outfits and making animal noises for no apparent reason (no, I was sober, dressed normally and remained quiet).

 

[pete-rock]

I was on a full bus in Chicago once, and everything was fine. Suddenly a woman with a Marshall Fields shopping bag jumps up and tells the bus driver, "WE HAVE GOT TO GET TO 67TH STREET NOW!!! RIGHT NOW, DAMMIT!!!" She started shaking the bag and saying, "IF I DON'T PUT MY BABY'S HEAD BACK ON SOON, HE'S GONNA DIE!!!" We were at about 45th Street.

This woman's screaming kept up for a few more blocks, getting worse and more profane. Several people were telling her to shut up, but also wondering about the bag. Finally, this guy tells her, "DAMN!!! SHUT THE F*** UP!!! GIMME THAT G**D**** BAG!!!" He took the bag from her, went to the front door of the bus and threw it out onto the sidewalk. She went after the man and the bag, and the man pushed her off the bus.

Everyone on the bus applauded, and we continued our merry way down Ashland Avenue.

 

[Cardinal]

Public transit? We have a shared-ride taxi service, does that count? Of course, I only used it once and I was the only passenger, so I guess I would be it.

 

[JNA]

At an airport recently (going on vacation), I saw
1. eyebrow hoop/ring
2. stud/bar through the bridge of the nose
3. upside down horseshoe hanging between nostrils
4. stud/bar through lower lip
5. ear rings/plugs at least the size of a dime that stretched the ear lobes out
6. tatoos
7. shaved head
all on the same person

 

[SkeLeton]

well this wasn't exactly using public transit, but waiting for it...
A woman in her 30s, known to be weird (insane) just sqatted, pulled down her pants, and started peeing.... yup in the middle of the sidewalk, and on a rainy winter afternoon...

besides that...nothing I can remember...

 

[jordanb]

JNA -- Man are you're sheltered if that suprises you.

I think the weirdest person I can remember was this old street person who somehow managed to scrape together a fare for the L. She was really out of it, probably in her 70s, and had a eastern european accent. You could smell the beer on her breath from three feet away, which was kind of a good think because it masked the BO. Her fingernails were all yellow and cracked.

Oh yeah, and she kept telling something that I think was her life story (not sure), the highlight of which was gettign raped for a nickel (not sure how that works) to anyone who accidently made eye contact with her.

 

[michaelskis]

One night on the subway in NYC, the guy sitting across the isle had tattoos all over his face, neck, arms, hands, and head. (He looked kind of like the guy from X-men 2) He had this blue mohock, tons of piercings in his face, was dressed in ripped leather.

But that was not the crazy part. This AMAZING looking blond haired, blue-eyed girl walks in. She was wearing a business skirt/ suit, and looked like she came from some serious cash. She walked over; he stood up and gave her a kiss, and then asked her how her day was. She said that the law firm was crazy, and that she cannot wait to get home. He then told her that he was cooking roast beef and potatoes for dinner.

All I kept thinking at the time is HOW, does a guy like that end up with a girl like that.

 

[jordanb]

She likes the bad boys. Some girls are like that.

It reminds me of this Onion article.

 

[JNL]

I am blonde-haired and blue-eyed and I guess pretty respectable looking, and I went out with a guy who had multiple piercings (remember the thread on piercing??), his only shoes were combat boots, and he liked to wear PVC pants (ew!)... but then, that relationship only lasted a couple of months. He had a few personal habits that turned me off......

Anyway! Back on-topic, I once got on a train with this guy who looked a bit bedraggled, and was muttering to himself. His muttering got louder and louder until I could make out that he was stringing all these filthy obscenities together into this non-stop abusive diatribe against women! I was actually quite fascinated, it was just so outside our usual norms for behaviour! He spewed misogynistic abuse non-stop for an hour.

 

[LouisvilleSlugger]

When / where I grew up in Atlanta the bus system (MARTA) went through our neighborhood only to drop off and pick up maids. It was called the maid service and neighborhood residents could not ride it. I was about 4 and I begged and begged my mom to let me ride the bus with our maid, who was nice enough to take me. One day we got on that bus and rode around all day. I had so much fun! I don’t have any pictures or anything, but remember the day vividly. I have always been drawn to public transportation.

wow. that's an interesting service! does it still exist. wow. that is pretty neat. we have a night owl bus that does something similiar to what your talking about.

 

[LouisvilleSlugger]

Anyway! Back on-topic, I once got on a train with this guy who looked a bit bedraggled, and was muttering to himself. His muttering got louder and louder until I could make out that he was stringing all these filthy obscenities together into this non-stop abusive diatribe against women! I was actually quite fascinated, it was just so outside our usual norms for behaviour! He spewed misogynistic abuse non-stop for an hour. [/B]

in a way that sounds fascinating except for the anti women trash talking...argh. I always wonder what people like that are muttering. sometimes it's interesting. I know once this guy was muttering about constellations and coordinates and it reminded me of the movie K-PAX. being subjected to it for a long time can be a hastle but sometimes it's some good entertainment.

 

[Zoning Goddess]

HEHEHEHEHEHEHE!

Bet I can beat you

Usually that description fits me. I have some spikey hats that I built with my own 3 hands When I ride the train in CHI(anywhere I wear it in public actually), I get 1 of 4 reactions:

A) That hat is awesome (33%)
B) I don't see you until I am past you and hurt my neck craning afterwords (33%)
C) You are beneath me so I will ignore you (29%)
D) Your horns are religiously objectionable and your evil (5%)


I like the reaction from kids the most. They just blurt it out or stare out of curiosity. They don't have the stupidity of attaching meaning to the silly things like adults do. They just are full of wonder and almost all of them love the hats

Too much fun sometimes

Aren't you going to post some pictures of your hats???

 

[el Guapo]

Photos Damnit!

 

[H]

wow. that's an interesting service! does it still exist. wow. that is pretty neat. we have a night owl bus that does something similiar to what your talking about.

It did as of a few years ago, but I don’t know if it is still in service or not. I imagine yes. And if you did not have a special pass (or something), you could not board. I would try and take it downtown with my friends before we could drive and the driver absolutely would not let us on.

And this was in the city; it wasn’t like it was way out in nowhere or anything.

 

[donk]

On my last trip to TO a crazy crack head got on the streetcar, wearing no shoes. The conductor asked he rto pay, she said no she just needed a ride for 1 stop to get her shoes back. She then proceeded to yell at the top of her lungs, "Give me money I am hungry". She stayed on for about 2 stops then a few people gave her money and off she stumbled.

The oddest thing I have ever seen on the streetcar in TO is 3-4 transexual hookers going to work. How do I know they where going to work, by the stop they got off at.

 

[Greenescapist]

About 5 years ago I was in Brooklyn taking the subway into Manhattan and saw a man who had some disorder the likes of which I have never seen before. I'm getting goosebumps thinking about it.

He had large raised bumps all over his skin - his face, neck, arms, legs - the size of ping pong balls. It looked like really large bubble wrap. *shudder*

 

[Duke Of Dystopia]

Aren't you going to post some pictures of your hats???

Sure, I have to take them first. I will post some digital pics tomorow.

 

[OhioPlanner]

On my bus on the way home from work I frequently see this mentally ill man. He always wears yellow or other brightly colored sweat pants and a sweater (even in the summer). The sweat pants are pulled up over the sweater (which of course doesn't match). He's a really big guy, so it doesn't look that great.

The best part is that he has recently taken an active interest in our neighborhood council and shows up at every meeting. He feels the need to ask a question/make a statement at every opportunity. And especially enjoys calling us all bigots who are against people with mental illness/disabilities. He plans to run for office on the council next year and regularly announces this as well.